Monsieur Marcel

Horrible!!! Would give negative stars if i could. Came in at 5:45PM, its 6:34 and i just walked out after waiting for more than ½ an hour for my food, which never came. The IDIOT waiter made us wait 15 min. Before coming to get out order, then 20 min later, he comes by to ask us what we had ordered, because clearly this moron forgot to put in the order, as he’s too busy walking around posing up a storm, or thinking he’s some wannabe actor. At this point we were so frustrated we contemplated walking out. Another 15 min pass, and the hostess comes to tell us our order is almost ready. Then another 10 min pass, and its still «on the way». Whatever, we just left, at least they didnt ask us to pay for the ice teas. Dont come here if you expect to get ur food in less than 45 min. There’s tons of there places to eat here. The place wasn’t even full…

This is the perfect place for a date night! My husband and I ordered the wine and cheese pairing ($ 20) to start with. It’s $ 20/​person but I recommend getting one and sharing. Otherwise, it’s a lot of cheese for one person, if your getting an entrée as well. We did the Rosè and champagne tasting, and it was served with the best truffle cheese I’ve ever eaten! It was the best part of the meal.
We also ordered a tapenade app, and it wasn’t good. It tasted like it was out of the Trader Joe’s tapenade jar.
I ordered the prosciutto, burrata and peach salad for my entrée and it was so delicious. It’s a starter salad, but it’s huge!
The truffle fries were also really good. The service was mediocre, but the food was great!

This restaurant is fantastic. Everything on the menu is fresh organic from farmers market and the cuisine is delicious. The ambience is even more perfect. Great place to bring a date and have a magical evening among the patrons of famous third street. There are heaters everywhere to keep you comfortable on nippy nights. The best touch was our host Michael. He is very attentive and charming and made the experience dining here one you won’t forget. Highly recommended. Enjoy.

Extremely rude and alienating service. I’ve never been to a restaurant where they asked me what I was having for breakfast BEFORE they «decide» where to seat me. It’s an outdoor place, right in the middle of the Santa Monica farmers market and they objected to my shopping bags. When I said I think I will get my coffee and pastry at home, no question or apology; instead: «I think it’s a good idea,» the hostess returned! Awful, just absolutely out of place in our open, welcoming culture here in Los Angeles. Thankfully you don’t have to deal with these yahoos to get a good coffee and a croissant in Santa Monica: French-​named joints like this do not have at all a monopoly on French-​origin food. By the way the best croissants in Southern California are made by a Lebanese and a Japanese, and they top most if not almost all I’ve had in Paris, France, and I looked hard for the contrary.
To their credit the manager apologized on the phone and agreed it’s not right to deny a table to a paying customer when there are several available and reservations have not shown up, based on what they were going to order!

The service here is amazing and everyone is so friendly and the food is TO DIE FOR. Michael is the best employee ever

We stumbled upon Monsieur Marcel accidentally while exploring Santa Monica while on a work trip. We were not expecting the food experience we just had. Not only was the food out of this world (I highly recommend the blue cheese), the service was top notch. My husband and I are already planning to go back tomorrow for lunch! This has definitely become one of the highlights of our quick trip to Santa Monica.

Horrible service! The owner was so rude! :(
We just had water and left. If you can’t be polite to your customers, shame on you!

A must visit for me every time I travel to CA. My favorite: eggs benedict. It’s in a darling little location in the middle of the 3^rd Street Promenade. Great people watching, beautiful breezes and a wonderful little brunch spot.

Monsieur Marcel is definitely above the average French L.A. restaurant and many of its dishes feel authentic to me. That includes the fondue, which is hard to find around here, or the beef bourguignon. I wish there was a little more variety on the menu though, and that it would be a little cheaper. Also, the location in the middle of the promenade, out in the open, is not necessarily the most appealing for me, but I think it tourists might like it. Overall, it is still better than most restaurants on the promenade. The delivery is also a little overpriced.

I’m a fan of this place.
Excellent location with outdoor open sitting, a perfect place to feel like you’re in the middle of things, and that’s because your are. If you like to dine and people watch this is the place to be!
As far as the food, they start with a fresh basket of sourdough bread upon request. I had the Nicoise salad. Seared tuna, with anchovies, fresh greens, hard boil egg, cherry tomatoes and olives … all very fresh and tasty.

I was walking around 3^rd street with my husband looking for a brunch place on a Saturday. We stumbled upon this cute little spot. The Monsieur Marcel is located in the middle island area at 3^rd street promenade. It’s really a tiny restaurant but they pack in the tables. Service was friendly and quick. I liked how their brunch menu was simple so as to not overwhelm the customers with too many choices. I ordered the crêpe florentine and was surprised by the amount of spinach stuffed in there. Be warned! They make the crêpe look almost like a burrito drenched in the creamy white sauce. It wasn’t overly flavored. In fact, I’d say it was more on the light-​tasting side. If that’s not your cup of tea, I wouldn’t recommend it. I was starving and ate the whole thing. The portion was just right. My husband ordered the benedict du marcel. I stole a bite and it was delicious! Bacon on croissant with sauce drizzled on there? Can’t go wrong with that! They have so many yummy cocktails for brunch available. Sadly, we were saving room for Philz coffee. So we didn’t get to try any. Next time! I’d rate the food here as maybe 3.5 stars, but I love the cute relaxing atmosphere. Perfect for a Saturday brunch/​lunch!

Very bad service and poor-​tasting food. Our server showed little regard for our satisfaction and paid little attention to our table, despite a very slow day.
My girlfriend and I decided to stop for lunch during our walk on the promenade and were immediately put-​off by how we were treated. Our hostess sat us down without menus and our waiter did not ask if we would like drinks.
We decided to order $ 15 sandwiches and laughed when we discovered they were merely pieces of bread with one thin slice of meat. We laughed again when we tasted it. I could have gotten a better-​tasting, better-​quality, larger and cheaper sandwich at Subway! What a joke.
We finally asked for glasses of water and the check. Roughly ten minutes passed without water, so we decided to ask another waiter.
We mutually agreed to not leave a tip after our horrible experience. Shortly after, we were approached at the crosswalk by our waiter. He asked, «Was there anything wrong?» And I responded according. He responded, «OK, next time just let us know.» And walked away.
I did not feel welcomed upon arrival, did not appreciate our treatment, did not enjoy the food, and did not appreciate being approached by a disgruntled waiter.

It’s been 8 years since I was last here and is still as amazing as ever! Michael treated us so well, thanks for the great meal. Try the truffle cheese-​delicious! :)

Monsieur Marcel is the epitome of a quaint, Parisian café nestled as a small stand seating 20 guests at most, under their European-​esque terrace. Given that they are located on Third Street Promenade in the heart of the downtown strip it would be impossible to pass by this adorable French café. With that given, I was eager to try Monsieur Marcel when I heard a strong French accent from the hostess. Every table is adorned with fresh flowers in a tin can, a special touch that gives this outdoor café a much Spring feel. You are instantly greeted by either some French waiters which makes the experiment far more exciting, and not to mention their extensive list of French favourites on their menu.
What I have tried:
C H A R C U T E R I E B O A R D Choose Your Own [ $ 25 ]
A great way to taste several European delicacies. You can simply never go wrong with paté de campagne, brie de meaux, parma prosciutto, jamon de paris, and triple créme; a taste of France. These wonderful French flavours are accompanied by sweet jam, signature French mustard, pickles, and a basket of french bread.
P O U L E T P E S TO [ $ 14 ]
A hot sandwich of tender chicken breast, pesto, rocket salad, roasted tomatoes, and smoked mozzarella on a rustic french bread, this might be my favourite sandwich on their lunch list. Quite filling with an abundance of flavour, this sandwich accompanies extraordinarily well with their truffle fries.
C R O Q U E M A D A M E [ $ 16 ]
A classic French favourite of classic jambon de Paris ham and Emmenthal cheese with a fresh egg on top, their Croque Madame is filled with mornay sauce in the sandwich rather than layered gently on top. You have the choice of a rocket salad mix or frites, but I often always opt for the frites. Although I’ve had better Croque Madame’s from other French establishments, I would try other things before deciding on their mediocre version.
C R O Q U E M A R C E L [ $ 14 ]
A hot pressed sandwich of turkey, Emmenthal cheese, St. goat cheese and mornay sauce in between white bread, this variation is quite similar to a Croque Monsieur. Again, another sandwich I would personally pass.
B E E F B O U R G U I G N O N [ $ 24 ]
A rich, slow-​braised short ribs with potato gratin and pearl onion, it is slow cooked in a dutch oven for nearly 2 hours at 250 degrees for the right consistency and tenderness. Keep in mind that this is a very salty dish, and although it is a huge favourite of mine, be wary of its sodium use. Nonetheless however, this beef bourguignon is exquisitely tasty, and a dish not worth passing!
Q U I C H E L O R R A I N E [ $ 14 ]
A simple classic quiche of thick ham and onions, this can be consumed any time of the day for breakfast or for dinner.

The food was good but the service wasn’t. He started off taking our order with an attitude. Then I ordered an additional plate later. When our additional plate came we still didn’t get our first two orders. We waited for a while longer and when we finally asked the guy (who never checked up on us), he never put our order in despite us seeing him tapping on his iPad. He also made it sound like it was our fault. Maybe there was a language barrier but service was not good.
Anyways, we got the mussel, duck pâté, and seafood linguine. The mussels were a good size with delicious sauce, the cheese and pâté were nice, and the seafood linguine was creamy with fresh, plump seafood. I really like the outdoor seating because of the nice area on a sunny warm day.

I came here to update my review and was surprised that I had not reviewed this location yet.
I love Monsieur Marcel but i go to the location at The Farmer’s Market more often because it is closer to my home.
This location is wonderful, located outdoors in the 3^rd Street Promenade.
I had one of the best dining experiences here a few nights ago.
The evening weather was perfect and the lights and crowd at the promenade were enchanting.
One of my favorite things to eat in Los Angeles is the Pesto Chicken salad here at Monsieur Marcel. I like it so much that I rarely deviate from ordering it.
I decided to try something different — the Beef Bourguignon. It was excellent! It could not have been better. I paired it with a glass of Summerland Pinot Noir. When asked if I would like another glass to finish with I had to say «Oui s’il vous plaît.»
Fresh baguettes & butter were brought to the table — perfect.
The service was wonderful, friendly and on the spot.
This is one of my spots in Los Angeles.

When I first saw this place, my thought was «this is a tourist trap» and I was partially right. The food was better than expected, although still over priced. My friend and I shared the five option cheese plate for $ 35 that included three cheeses, salami and duck liver pâté. While the cheeses were rather good, I wasn’t at all impressed with the pâté and asked to switch it with something else because it was inedible in my opinion (of course I didn’t tell them this). The server was actually very nice and obliged. But it took nearly 15 minutes to switch to the chorizo side. By that time we were kind of annoyed and ready to leave. I also ordered a white wine ($ 9) that tasted more like cider. The restaurant has a European feel but a cheesy Hollywood version of it.

I brought a friend from Chicago to the Third Street Promenade and we were looking for a place to eat dinner. After perusing the menu we decided on Monsieur Marcel. We were greeted by our very nice waiter who seated us next to a heater per my request. He continued the excellent service throughout our meal, even taking a plethora of pictures for us to ensure we got a great shot.
The outdoor seating makes for great atmosphere on a warm day or evening. And of course being Santa Monica, there’s great people watching.
The menu is classic French as the name suggests. I opted to turn an appetizer into a meal and order the baked brie in puff pastry stuffed with apricot marmalade, walnuts, and stilton cheese served with fig jam. It was delicious and very rich. After I finished with the toast it came with, I used some of the table bread, and gave a bunch to my friends, but still couldn’t finish all the brie.
My friend ordered the French onion soup. It was good, not too salty, which tends to be a problem with French onion soup. He also got the trout almondine severed with green beans, sun-​dried tomatoes, almonds, beurre-​noisette sauce. It was very good as well and we would recommend it.
Overall, the service, atmosphere, and food, made for a great dinner and evening. I’d go back for sure.

Cute atmosphere and decent food but the service and menu need work.
I dropped by here for a little solo lunch while I was out shopping this past weekend.
It wasn’t packed at all and the hostess asked my preference of whether I wanted to sit in the shade or in the sun and accommodated my preference.
I ordered a croque madame but was annoyed that the egg was $ 2 extra. $ 2 to throw a fried egg on top of my sandwich?
On top of that, certain tables got free bread and certain others didn’t, which I didn’t get. But my main pet peeve with this place is that after you place your initial order (for which I still had to flag someone down) the servers refuse to even look in your general direction. I don’t know why but I feel like this has to be a conscious decision on their end because they literally don’t even turn their head in your direction so it’s very hard to get anyone’s attention without being loud or flapping your arms around.
It’s not a bad spot for people watching but the overall food and atmosphere are just ok.

It’s a very cute location literally in the central area of the 3^rd Street Promenade. On a nice day, this is a beautiful place to grab brunch. I don’t believe they had indoor seating, so I would defer if it’s too cold (or hot). Parking is easy in any of the nearby free parking garages.
In any case, I came for Sunday brunch and there was no wait.
1. Coffee: Generous cup with free refills ($ 2.50). Not bad!
2. L’Omelette: This was actually pretty good, with delicious mushrooms. I got the side of fruit. We added an avocado on the side for $ 3. This was on the pricier side for brunch, and it wasn’t very big unfortunately.
3. Soufflé french toast: I liked the crunchy texture of this dish, but didn’t feel that it was anything special. Also on the pricier side and quite small (4 small pieces). I didn’t leave the place completely full.
Overall, I felt that the food was pretty good, but a little on the expensive and small side. Service was decent.